The whole ride home, back to the children- their children, as it now could legally be declared- Sam held Santana's hand in his in between their seats, squeezing periodically. He couldn't stop himself from glancing over at Santana often, his own smile broadening every time he caught sight again of her wide grin, and it made his heart feel full to the bursting when he thought about the way the dimples would dig into Antonia's cheeks when she realized that she could and would be his daughter. She would be so happy to know that Sam could be her daddy, and Sam? Well, he felt on top of the world.
Although he had tried to show nothing but confidence in front of Santana, privately Sam had feared that somehow, he would not be able to have Toni as his legal child, that somehow Kyle's biological contribution would overrule his complete lack of effort to be a decent parent. What if their lawyer couldn't match up to whoever Kyle could hire, or if the judge was one of those types who thought that any biological parent, no matter how terrible, had more of a right to their child than the people who loved and raised her?
But none of his secret fears had come true, and now it was assured for him that Toni was to be his daughter. Santana was going to marry him, he had landed the career of a lifetime, and Santana was now pregnant with his first biological son or daughter. There was nothing more that Sam could imagine happening now to make his life any more magical or complete.
Frequently he lifted Santana's entwined fingers to his lips and kissed them as they drove, exchanging rather goofy smiles at her own wiggly excitement, loving the way Santana in an especially happy state sometimes looked and acted nearly as young as her daughter. As they pulled into the driveway of their home, Maribel's car pulling in behind them, Sam almost sprung out of the car and around to the passenger side to open the door for Santana. He couldn't wait to share the good news.
Antonia flung the door open before they could even reach it; Sam wondered with amusement if she had waited throughout the entire time they were gone at the window to watch for them coming back, or exactly how many times she had pestered the babysitter with questions of how long it would be before her mami and daddy came home. Santana had confessed as they were leaving that Toni had never before been left with a babysitter other than her mother, and Toni's anxiety about this change in routine had been pretty obvious.
"Mamiiiiii Daddyyyyy!" she had shrieked, reaching up her arms to be picked up and giving a little hop of excitement. "Stevie Stevie Mami and Daddy are home!"
Sam could hear Stevie's feet thudding down the hall as he came running to greet them, the more slowly moving babysitter following. Grinning, Sam reached to scoop Toni up in one arm, Stevie in the other, so both kids were perched somewhat awkwardly, one on each hip. He hugged them close, feeling both their little arms wrap around his neck and providing some balance, and Santana leaned in to hug them both too, grinning at their obviously happy smiles.
"We were very good!" Toni announced, beaming. "Even though I didn't like you going at all! I didn't even be bad at all!"
"You were too bad a little bit," Stevie countered, eager to tattle and show off as having been "gooder" than Toni. "You cried when they left and said you wanted your mommy. Then you kept asking Hannah to call them and tell them to come home."
"Did not!" Toni protested, before looking up guiltily at Sam. "That's not bad, is it, Daddy?"
"I'm sure you were good," Sam told her, smoothing her hair back from her forehead. "We missed you too, both of you. And guess what, Toni Toes?" He poked at her bare foot playfully, unable to hold back his grin when she giggled and kicked at him, narrowly missing kicking Stevie.
"What, Daddy, what?"
"Well, Miss Antonia Lopez, this is your very lucky day, because…" Sam paused dramatically, just so the little girl would push at his shoulder, giving a little bounce on his hip as she demanded he finish his sentence.
"Daddyyyy tell me, tell me, tell me!"
"It's your lucky day, because you get to come with me and your mami and pick out any cake you want in the whole entire grocery store," Sam told her, meeting Santana's eyes past the two children and grinning as both children gave a delighted whoop in response to this statement.
"How come Toni gets to do that?" Stevie couldn't resist demanding, despite his pleasure at the prospect of cake for any reason. "It's not her birthday!"
"Be quiet, Stevie," Antonia ordered, perhaps afraid that she wouldn't get the cake after all if Sam realized this. Santana stifled a laugh as the little girl, unable to resist the question after all, added in, "Yeah, Daddy, it's not my birthday. Do I get a cake 'cause it's my un-birthday?"
"Toni, you've been watching that creepy Alice in Wonderland video again, haven't you?" Santana asked, making a face at her, as Toni giggled, nodding her head cheerfully.
"Uh huh! Daddy, Mami is scared of that big pink cat," she announced, covering her mouth with one hand. "She doesn't like how it smiles so big."
"I'm not scared of it," Santana said quickly and somewhat defensively. "Just, what kind of cat disappears all except for it's stupid humongous smile?"
Sam couldn't help but chuckle, knowing that Antonia was undoubtedly right. "Don't worry, we're not going to have any disappearing smiles on this awesome day," he teased Santana before turning back to Toni and Stevie. "Today is a special day, a day that definitely needs a cake, because this is the day that we know for one hundred percent and forever that you get to be my very own little girl, very soon. A very smart judge just told Mami and Daddy that it's okay for me to adopt you, and what that means is you'll be my little girl just like you're Mami's, always."
Toni's face lit up, and she clapped her hands, dimples digging into her chubby cheeks. "Yay!"
"Oh…like when I was a baby and a smart judge said that you would take care of me?" Stevie remembered, adjusting his hold on Sam's shoulder. Smiling down at him, Sam nodded.
"That's right." He hugged Stevie too, including him now in his addressal. "I get to take care of the very best two kids ever. I'm definitely one lucky guy."
"We're lucky too, Daddy," Toni announced, punctuating her words with a pat to Sam's shoulder and a sweet kiss to his cheek, and catching Santana's eyes again, Sam saw the soft, relaxed lines to her face, the wideness of her smile. His heart melted with gratitude and quiet joy. His rapidly growing family could not be any more perfect, he was sure, nor could it make him any happier.
88
The rest of that evening seemed truly perfect to Sam and Santana both, and the kids, for their part, certainly seemed to enjoy themselves as well. Antonia relished being given the task of picking out a cake to celebrate their victory in court, and she definitely made the most of this responsibility, carefully deliberating over all the possibilities. Although Santana couldn't see the appeal of the My Little Pony themed cake she had chosen, and Stevie had definitely made a face and declared that she had picked a "girly" cake, this hadn't held him back from chowing down happily enough at his piece of it, and asking for a second slice as well. There had been plenty of time afterward for the four of them to go shopping for wedding clothes for the children, and after seemingly endless modeling shows from Antonia as she tried on what seemed like every dress in the store that was her size, trying to find a flower girl dress that was "the most prettiest," she had finally settled on a dress that was pale pink, sleeveless, and fell to her shins in length, just soft and "swirly" enough that it flew out and made waves when she twirled in a circle. It had a white filmy material over its pink skirt that was transparent and carried fake rose petals inside it. Antonia had turned in circles in delight at her reflection in the mirror until she fell down on her backside, evoking guffawing laughter from Stevie, who had been hunched over his Ipad, totally ignoring her as he had picked his little suit out long ago, after trying on exactly two examples.
Of course, Toni had pouted and stomped around a little at Stevie's laughter, but she had soon perked up when Santana helped her up and Sam told her all over again just how pretty and princess-like she looked in her chosen dress. And she did; looking at her daughter, imagining her wearing her little frilly dress and flinging rose petals, most likely in people's faces, as she walked down the aisle ahead of her, Santana had had to bite her lip to keep in her tears. The day would come soon, she knew, much sooner than it seemed now. So many happy days ahead of them, so very much to look forward to- how was it possible that her life could be turning out so well?
They had concluded the evening celebration by letting the kids pick out a movie for them all to watch together before bed. They had settled on the couch, Stevie on one side of Sam, Toni curled up, nearly asleep, in Santana's lap, and Santana too was growing sleepy, her head starting to droop towards Sam's shoulder, when she felt it. A strange jolting feeling in her stomach, a sharp but not painful sensation that she at first could not interpret. When it happened the second time, though, she knew. The baby was moving; the baby had just made its first two kicks, its first real communication with the outside world.
Although Santana had gasped, and Sam looked over quickly, concerned, it was Toni who voiced it first, rubbing at her eyes groggily as she looked down at Santana's stomach, scowling.
"The baby's pushing me, Mami. Tell it that it's my turn on your lap and it's gotta share."
"Santana, is she right?" Sam's eyes grew wide as he turned almost fully around, focusing all his attention on his fiance's stomach. He reached out a hand, then drew it back, as though afraid to go through with touching her all the way, like he could hurt the baby inside. "Did it…did the baby just…"
As though in answer, the baby kicked again. This time it was Sam who gasped, and Toni scowled more deeply, looking up at her mother as she complained, "Mami, it's doing it again! Make it be nice to me!"
"What's it doing?" Stevie, interested, tore his eyes from the screen to look over at the other three. "It's in your belly, isn't it? How can it do anything to Toni?"
"Oh Toni, the baby is being nice to you," Santana managed, through a smile almost as huge as Sam's. "This is your brother or your sister, saying hello for the very first time. It wanted to make sure that you were the first one it ever spoke to. It already loves you and thinks you're special. Hold still, and touch it, and maybe it will say hi again."
Both the children hold still, their hands just lightly touching Santana's stomach. She noticed that Sam was almost holding his breath, hope and wonder alit in his gaze. When the baby kicked again, a few moments later, Stevie grinned, and the look in Sam's eyes was nothing less than a perfect way to draw a wonderful day to its close.
88
For Kyle Lathrop, the day was not so happy. In fact, Kyle was more than a little pissed off. It was true, of course, that he really had no desire to be a father, nor to have any "rights" as a parent towards Antonia or any of his other fathered children. If he were to be honest, it wouldn't bother him at all if he never saw any of those brats again. But what did matter to him was that by having access to Antonia Lopez, he would quite possibly also gain access to Sam Evans's money, and possibly be able to prevent Santana Lopez from being able to marry a guy who could end up sharing all that money with her.
At least, that had been the idea, and his intention behind his efforts of gaining access to Antonia. What he hadn't counted on were those stupid damn women that he had forgotten long ago, and their stupid brat kids that happened to share a few genes with him, coming back to bite him in the ass. He hadn't expected that his own damn lawyer would more or less give up on him in the middle of the trial, and for the judge to obviously favor Santana. Now, he had no access to Antonia by law, and he was facing jail time if he didn't pay up what the judge was claiming he owed.
But that didn't mean it was over. No, if anything, Kyle was more determined than ever to get what he saw as his fair share of that Evans man's money, and to make sure Santana had less access to it too.
The key, of course, was still Antonia; if he could get to her, he was sure that money, to her mother and Sam, would be nothing in comparison. And it was with this understanding in mind that he began to form a plan.
88
Toni had taken quite some time that evening to be able to fall asleep. After the excitement of the hearing's outcome, her parents' obvious happiness, the news of her upcoming adoption, and then the cake and dress shopping, she had been in a fervor of energy and enthusiasm, doubtless further heightened by all the sugar. It had taken Santana singing to her softly in the living room and Sam tucking her in and reading her several stories before she could relax enough to drift off to sleep.
It seemed all too soon when she was awakened by a soft but persistent and steady tapping noise at her window. As Antonia sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes and scowling, she could tell even through her squinting that her room was still dark, and outside her bedroom window, it was still night time. She could only see by the light of the moon and stars shining through. She was starting to call out that it was still sleep time when she realized that a man's face was looking in through the window at her, a face she recognized a moment later to belong to Kyle. Kyle, the man that was her real father but not her daddy. Kyle, the man that her mami and daddy and Stevie were all so mad at and who had been so mean to her and her mami.
More alert with this realization and scowling even more heavily, Toni pushed back the covers of her bed, getting to her feet and turning to face Kyle full on with both hands on her hips as she whisper-hissed her admonishment to him.
"You aren't supposed to be here! You're not my daddy no more!"
She could see that Kyle's lips were moving, as though he were saying something to her, but through the glass of the window, Toni couldn't tell what he was saying. "I can't hear you!" she told him, shaking her head, but he was still talking like he couldn't understand. If she couldn't hear him, maybe he couldn't hear her either. Sighing out loud and rolling her eyes with the mannerisms of a child much older than four, Toni stalked over to the window and fumbled for several moments with its latch, pushing it open and calling out in a loud whisper to the man outside of it.
"You aren't s'pposed to be here, Kyle! My mami and daddy would be very, very mad if they saw you. It's s'pposed to be sleep time and you are s'pposed to stay away from me 'cause you're not my daddy anymore, the judge said so. Plus I'm not s'pposed to talk to you, so go away!"
"Now hang on a minute, Toni," Kyle said to her, spreading out his hands as though in surrender. "I'm not here to hurt you, or do anything bad to you. I just wanted to talk to you."
"I'm not s'pposed to talk to you," Toni repeated stubbornly, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm s'pposed to sleep and you woked me up. I oughtta go tell my mami and daddy on you. So go away."
"You already are talking to me, so if your parents find that out, you're already in trouble," Kyle pointed out slyly. "You wouldn't be able to go tell on me without getting in trouble too, now, would you?"
Antonia considered this, frowning as she considered that this could be true. She bit her lower lip, thinking, before relenting.
"Well, I guess I won't tell on you, but you need to go away 'cause I wanna sleep. Plus you're not my daddy anyway, the judge said so. You can't be no more 'cause Sam is my daddy now."
"But that's what I want to talk about," Kyle insisted, stepping closer to the window and lowering his voice as he made his voice pleading. "Toni, that makes me very sad to know I can't ever get to know you or be your daddy. So all I want to do is tell you goodbye and how happy I am that you're my little girl even if I don't get to be your daddy. I just want to give you something so you can remember me if I don't get to be that for you. Can't you just come here for a minute so I can give it to you?"
Antonia considered this, still frowning. It didn't seem to her like such a bad request, and she felt sorry for how sad Kyle looked and sad. Finally she nodded, curious in spite of herself. One thing Toni found difficult to resist, no matter who it was coming from, was receiving a gift.
"What is it?"
When Toni was close enough that her head was almost hanging out of the window, Kyle's hands shot up, and he seized hold of her upper arms, pulling her further out the window and towards him. Immediately Toni began to shriek and scream, kicking her legs and trying to pull her arms out of the man's grasp. Kyle retained his grip, frightened by the child's surprising strength and resistance but determined to hang on, rather than drop her to the ground or release her back into her bedroom. There was no turning back now; this was something he had to go through with.
In their bedroom, Santana and Sam were jolted out of a deep, peaceful sleep by the shrill panic in their daughters screams. Both nearly flew out of bed and bolted down the hallway, intent on reaching her. But it was Stevie, sleepy as he was, who reached the bedroom first, as his room was closest to the little girl's. He let out a loud gasp of shock as he saw the struggle taking place at the window, and he bellowed out at the top of his lungs, "You let go of my little sister, you bad man! Sammy, Santana, come get him, hurry!"
He ran forward himself, grabbing at Toni's legs and pulling in an effort to bring her back into the room. Toni screeched with renewed volume from pain at the rough pulling of her legs, but even with Stevie's efforts, Kyle was stronger and managed to pull her outside with him. One hand firmly grasping Toni, he reached up with the other and pulled the struggling little boy out the window after her. As Santana and Sam's figures broke through Toni's doorway, their wide open eyes could only take in the sight of Kyle's retreating form, holding each child under his arm like footballs as they kicked and flailed and screamed, struggling to wrest them both into his car.
"Oh my god!" Santana gasped, the words strangled and raw in her throat. Her eyes were open so wide they seemed to be ready to actually come out from their sockets, and the hand covering her mouth was holding onto her own jawline so tightly Sam could see her nails starting to dig furrows into her skin. "Oh my god, he's taking them, Sam, we have to stop him, we have to get them, hurry!"
She lunged towards the open window, heedless in her desperation to get to her daughter and Stevie, actually lifting her leg up with the intention to scramble out the window after them. Coming partly out of his shock, Sam hurried to her, taking her by the waist and pulling her back. Santana fought him, but he held on, half shouting into her ear.
"Santana, you're pregnant, you could hurt yourself!"
"I don't give a damn, he has my baby!" she screamed, the panic stark in her tone as she continued to writhe in Sam's grasp. "He's getting away, we can't let him take them away!"
"I'll go after them," Sam promised, punctuating his words with a reassuring squeeze, even as his own heart pounded crazily in his chest and adrenaline shot full force through his veins. "I'll go, baby, you stay here and call the police. I need you to call the police so they can catch them if I can't."
"Hurry!" Santana ordered him, her breathing coming in near pants, and Sam didn't hesitate to obey. As he flew towards the front door, he knew in his heart that Kyle almost certainly had managed to pull away, and they had no way of knowing what direction he was heading in. They didn't know whether he had somewhere in particular to stay, was crashing at someone's home, or was hopping between hotels. Sam wasn't even sure what color or make the car had been, other than dark and average.
As he had feared, Kyle, his vehicle, and the children were no longer in sight by the time he got out the door. Somehow, he had wrestled two unwilling children into the vehicle and taken off with them. But where? And why? Money? Revenge? Something even worse?
Sam's stomach lurched, and he had to take several breaths before he could continue his fast pace to his own car. Maybe if he took off after Kyle fast enough, he would be able to see the children in the car and overtake him. Maybe he could run his own car into Kyle's and force an accident- no, what if the children got hurt? Surely in the grips of hysteria and anger, neither Stevie nor Toni would be belted in. Knowing his children, they would be still kicking and hollering, trying to pry the doors and windows open to jump out, even if Kyle was going entirely too fast for this to be safe.
Sam didn't even think about calling Santana to tell her this updated decision. He didn't have his phone to do so anyway. He ran back inside just long enough to grab his keys, but Santana was already waiting for him in the kitchen, almost smacking into him in her agitation and nearly aggressive desire for information.
"You didn't get them, you didn't get him! He's already gone, what the fuck are we going to do?! The police said they're coming but I didn't know the damn license plate, I didn't-"
"Stay here," Sam instructed, barely pausing to give her shoulder a quick squeeze. "I'm going to look for them."
"What do you mean, stay here, if you're going to look for them I'm coming too, there's no fucking way I'm staying here!" Santana sputtered. She pushed past Sam to the doorway, although she didn't have the keys, certain that she was coming along.
Sam tried to argue. "Santana, you don't need-"
But he cut himself off immediately when his fiancé turned to him with eyes blazing, all the emotion she was feeling towards Kyle now directed at him, the next person to be standing in her way. "What I need right now is to be doing everything I can to get my baby and Stevie back, right now. And I am not going to sit here and wait to see if that happens."
She stalked ahead of him, and Sam saw that it was much wiser to simply follow after her. He did, however, make sure that it was himself and not Santana who slid behind the wheel.
Even as he drove, Sam's mind was whirring with fear that he didn't dare to voice out loud. Santana, however, had no such hesitations.
"Sam, what if he's going to hurt them?" she choked out, her nails again digging into her own skin as she held her arms tightly over her stomach. "They're just little kids. What if he won't let us get them back? He was so angry in the court room, what if he-"
"Santana, don't talk like that," Sam interrupted, unable to stand even hearing the words, let alone considering their possibility. "We'll get them, and if we don't the police will." He had to believe that. He couldn't keep functioning if he didn't make himself believe that.
"You don't know him!" Santana ground out, clinching her jaw. "You don't know him like I do, he doesn't care about them or who they are, he only cares about him. He's angry and he wants back at me, what if he does something to them?"
And Sam couldn't think of anything to say to counter this. All he could do was mumble a helpless, "We'll get them back, baby. We will."
And as they drove, knowing that the police were on the lookout, with some on the way to the house to look at the scene of the crime, even as their eyes remained wide open, ever vigilant for any sign of the car or their children's faces pressed against car windows, both had the sickening fear that it would be in vain.